IAEA Recommends Improvements to Bulgaria's Nuclear Plant

The International Atomic Energy Agency has recommended several improvements to Bulgaria's sole nuclear power plant, Kozloduy.

The recommendations include creating contingency plans for severe accidents.

"Severe accident management guidelines have not been created for situations that involve open reactor conditions or spent fuel ponds," the International Atomic Energy Agency has said after a two-week safety review of the nuclear power plant.

"Analyses of the cause of events are not always performed in a thorough and timely manner to prevent the recurrence of events related to human performance," it added in a statement.

The IAEA-led international team has also recommended the introduction of neutron dose assessments for all relevant staff at the plant.

The team has also "identified good practices used at the plant that will be shared by the IAEA with the nuclear industry worldwide."

At present, only the 1000 MW units 5 and 6 are operational at the Kozloduy NPP, after Bulgaria agreed to shut down the 440 MW units 1-4 in 2002 and 2006 as part of its EU accession talks under pressure from Brussels.

The Bulgarian government has also initiated a program to extend the life of Units 5 and 6 by at least 20 years as their life is set to expire in 2017 and 2019 respectively.